Sunday, August 18, 2013

Sightseeing After Wizard World Philadelphia

Doug and I always enjoy sightseeing after a comics-cartoon convention; we had a GREAT time exploring after exhibiting at Wizard World Philadelphia, May 30th-June 2nd.

We grabbed a morning coffee at the Reading Terminal Market before boarding a double-decker sightseeing bus; that night we stopped back for ice cream. I then convinced Doug that he had to have a photo taken with Philbert the Pig, the market mascot.

We spent about 2 hours at the Rodin Museum, housing the largest collection of sculptor Auguste Rodin's works outside Paris. It's a quiet oasis in the heart of Philadelphia on the busy Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

What a great place to pause and "think."

Rodin sculpted more than 100 figures for The Gates of Hell.

The Eastern State Penitentiary, in operation from 1829 to 1971, is an intriguing "top" Philadelphia attraction, whose most famous inmate was mob boss Al Capone.

Unlike most cells, Capone's was rather luxurious - oriental rugs, fine furniture and a cabinet radio.

The Rocky Statue is one of Philadelphia's most famous pieces of public art. It was originally created for Rocky III, and after filming for the movie was completed, Sylvester Stallone donated the bronze statue to the city.

Before visiting the Philadelphia Museum of Art, I had Doug wait in line to have his photo taken with the famous Rocky Balboa.

The famous 72 stone steps at the East Entrance of the Philadelphia Museum of Art are known as the "Rocky Steps."

We also had a great tour of City Hall; it's the nation's largest municipal building - in fact, larger that the U.S. Capitol. A 37-foot bronze statue of William Penn sits on top of the clock tower at City Hall; a statue of retail entrepreneur John Wanamaker - Citizen stands at the east entrance.

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UPCOMING EVENTS

Bio

Doug has been a cartoonist for Playboy magazine since 1964.
For nearly 20 years, starting in the mid-60's, his "Doug Sneyd" and "Scoops" news cartoons appeared daily in newspapers across North America. Sneyd's talent has also led him into cinema: in 1993, he wrote, produced and directed "Black-eyed Susan," an educational movie-drama about spousal abuse, for the Ontario government. He was a founding member of the Canadian Society of Book Illustrators and has been a member of the National Cartoonists' Society and the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists. Thirty of his full-page color Playboy cartoons are among the 235 Sneyd works included in the National Archives of Canada in Ottawa.
Sneyd was born in Guelph, Ontario, Canada, but spent much of his professional career in Toronto. In 1969 he moved his family north to Orillia made famous as the mythical "Mariposa" by humorist Stephen Leacock. He works on the third floor of his home-studio overlooking beautiful Lake Couchiching and spends his winters on the Gulf Coast in Orange Beach, Alabama.